Helmsdale is not a large place to explore but I revisited the harbour, bought too much food at the small convenience store for my next few days and visited the museum. In the latter, I learnt that although there had been a castle here since the 15th century, its ruins demolished to make way for an upgrade of the A9, most of the town dated from the herring boom in the 19th century. This provided employment for people moved off the land by the "Highland Clearances", where to improve profits, people and their cattle were replaced by sheep. Many of those displaced emigrated to Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand, and a memorial by the A9 remembers those who left. Another handsome memorial reminds us of those who died in the World Wars defending our democracy.
As I read the Sunday papers in the afternoon it started to rain heavily. Fortunately tomorrow's forecast is for good weather.
Over-large portions were my only complaint at the Mirage restaurant, where the owner told me of others who have made the journey from Land's End to John o'Groats, some on penny farthing bicycles, one carrying a piano, another a set of ladders (why?), various celebrities making the trip were also quoted, it made my endeavours seem fairly mundane.
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| Looking inland from Helmsdale at the old road bridge (now replaced by a faster ugly modern one behind me), the war memorial is above to the left and the hills of the Highlands are in the background. |
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